There is a current trend of governments and businesses around the world announcing that they will reach net-zero emissions, or carbon neutrality, by 2050.
Continue readingWe should all be net-zero in 2020, not 2050
Environmental Enterprises – NoCO2 certified business
Across the country some of our clients are making a positive environmental difference from home based businesses, one of them is award winning Environmental Enterprises business owner Wayne Lever.
Wayne and his family supply compostable packaging and catering around the country from their eco-friendly home in Glenhaven, New South Wales.
We are proud to announce that Environmental Enterprises was recently awarded Highly Commended in the small business section of the Green Lifestyle Awards.
The Levers bought the business in 2008 and supply Governments, private enterprise, councils, schools, restaurants, caterers, festivals and the public with fully biodegradable, compostable and certified products. They sell coffee cups and lids, PLA products, sugar cane containers, CPLA cutlery, Cornstarch bin liners, bags, Natureflex bags and eco-napkins.
All greenhouse gas emissions produced since July 2011 by Environmental Enterprises’ business operations and packaging has been calculated and offset, through their membership of our NoCO2 carbon neutral certification program.
As do all our clients, Wayne and his family go the extra mile for certification. In their warehouse they keep power usage and lights to a minimum, they keep their hot water turned off (as it’s not required on a daily basis), they don’t accept junk mail and they use all the bio-degradable products from the business.
In the office, Wayne said “everyday 100% of the electricity used is provided onsite by our own solar system.”
No detail is over looked. They use a paperless invoice system, sending invoices electronically. They use energy efficient computers, which are never left on standby. All their stationary from their pens to their (staple-less) eco stapler contribute to a low carbon setup.
All that commitment adds up, leading to a truly sustainable and efficient home based business. We are excited to see such excellence being recognised and awarded at the Green Lifestyle Awards.
For more information head to: http://environmentalenterprises.com.au/
The New LowCO2 website
After a long period of service, the old Low Carbon Economy website has retired to spend more time with his obsolete friends, Mr Compact Disk, Mr Facsimile and Mr Blackberry.
In it’s place comes a young, fresh and extremely good-looking web directory, packed with functionality and ready to take on the world. This new directory gives every member the ability to showcase their business, their products & services and also their commitment to negating their environmental impact.
We hope you like the new look website and should you have any questions, please call us on 02 8228 7300.
Jasper Coffee – Low Carbon Economy
There are many different reasons why an organisation chooses to become Carbon Neutral. Jasper Coffee known to the coffee drinkers far and wide and a roaster in Collingwood, Melbourne, talks here about the steps, thoughts and processes before and after becoming Carbon Neutral with Carbon Reduction Institute’s NoCO2 Program in 2009.
In 2009, Jasper Coffee questioned their ability to become Carbon Neutral in any degree. They employed a Research Student for four months to investigate and report progressively on prospect, viability and efficacy of the company becoming Carbon Neutral. Later that year Jasper Coffee made the decision to have the whole operation and asset of the company become 100% Carbon Neutral so that no one could be critical of their endeavour.
It was no question to Director Wells Trenfield that unavoidable carbon emission had to be offset by a carbon credit project with Gold Standard auditing and with a maximum benefit to the origin of the carbon credits in a socially responsible way and which was affordable by the company.
Wells and his team decided on the Karnataka Project (Biomass project in India) as the beneficiary of their purchase of initial carbon credits. Jasper Coffee have recently chosen to move their purchase of carbon offsets to Peru Improved Cookstoves, an energy efficiency project implemented across nine Peruvian states.
Over time Jasper Coffee has used their Carbon Neutral journey to minimise their carbon footprint and they have over time been altering roast operations; using less water; and changed the cooling method to lessen the need for the electric motor. They have reduced their carbon footprint and carbon accounts by a range of abatement programs.
More actions have included:
- Changing factory and office lighting
- Choosing waste collection company Veolia who is able to separate different materials to reduce resources to landfill and recycle organic waste
- Finding users for coffee sacks to stop them from going to landfill
- Introducing the low energy new coffee roaster, the Loring Smart Roaster. This by itself reduced gas consumption by 34% and electricity needs by 12.5%
Transitioning the old fleet of 4cyl petrol vehicles to Hybrid Prius vehicles and completed that progress in 2016 with a new Hybrid Toyota Corolla. - In the office, the printer/scanner was replaced with a low carbon Ryco model, while converting to carbon neutral paper throughout the business
- A new compostable packaging for Instant Coffee has been introduced. A packaging, which includes World’s first compostable zip lock
- All bulk coffee packaging has been converted to compostable material
- All skylights were cleaned from built up grime. This significantly reduce the need for internal factory lighting
- High Bay factory lighting have been changed from 400watt to 200 and 150 watt globes and about to further change these to 80watt LED.
CEO Wells Trenfield: “While the company strive to make a difference over the journey, we still believe we are far from our goal, which is to reduce our footprint further. It is pleasing to know that since we started in 2009, Jasper Coffee has reduced our carbon footprint by Dollar Spend of more than 60%. The journey is not yet finished”.
SACS Consulting has been carbon neutral for 10 Years
SACS was recently contacted by our carbon neutral certification agency, The Carbon Reduction Institute, to notify us that we have been carbon neutral for 10 years. This apparently makes us the second company in the history of Australia to be carbon neutral for this length of time and the first ever in the State of Victoria.
We became carbon neutral after discussions with our staff about the issue of climate change and my personal belief that global warming is one of the most significant challenges facing the human race.
Our concern about the issue has not diminished and neither has our commitment to carbon neutrality. I think this is a trend that will be adopted by many more companies as the signs of global warming become more obvious day-to-day. Our best wishes go out to all other organisations and individuals seeking to make a difference to their footprint on the planet.
Statistics which show the equivalent of our contribution since 2007:
Source Direct celebrates 10 years Carbon Neutral!
Source Direct provides bespoke water bottles and uniquely different premium products to their customers. Source Direct pride themselves on an unmatched dedication to customer service and delivering a product that is desirable and exceeds their client’s expectations. Source Direct understands that the Industry in which they work generates greenhouse gas emissions in producing and distributing products. They also recognise “the urgent need to protect our natural environment and find more sustainable ways for our businesses to move forward together”.
Founder Ross Files explained; “I was aware of the importance of sustainability and that businesses needed to do more; so when we established Source Direct we decided to do it right from the outset; measuring, reducing and offsetting our carbon footprint and to encourage recycling of our products.”
Ross added, “We engaged the Carbon Reduction Institute in 2009 to fully measure the carbon footprint of our business; including our products. We then entered into a carbon offsetting program to achieve carbon neutrality across all of our products and operations.”
To encourage recycling of their products, Source Direct are registered suppliers for SA, NSW, QLD and the ACT EPA Container Deposit Schemes and can facilitate local purchase compliance into those States. They are also strongly committed to social causes. Source Direct makes regular donations to the Clown Doctors, a company which eases the stress of sick, hospitalised children.
To achieve NoCO2 carbon neutral certification, Source Direct undertook a carbon audit of their business and achieved net zero emissions through emissions reductions and carbon offsetting. Source Direct offsets their emissions by investing in Biomass Projects in India.
Biomass projects are implemented in small or large industrial plants. Their aim is to utilise agricultural waste or other non-renewable biomass residues as fuel to generate power and to lower the plants’ dependence on the local grid for electricity. Before these projects were implemented, the agricultural residues were not used. They were either burned without harnessing the resulting thermal energy, or simply left to decay, thereby generating methane emissions.
Since November 2009 Source Direct have offset over 4,200 tonnes of CO2e (greenhouse gas) emissions which is the equivalent of taking 1,167 Toyota Corollas off the road for an entire year!
If you’re looking for custom label water bottles or uniquely different products for your business, event or promotion, be sure to check out Source Directs’ product range and experience their first-class customer service.
Most importantly; when purchasing Source Directs’ products, you’ll know you’re making a difference!
Transdirect: Saving more than your bottom line with Carbon Neutral Delivery Service
The problem with the transport sector
In the year to March 2019, transport accounted for 18.8 per cent of Australia’s national carbon account inventory. Emissions from transport over the year to March 2019 increased by 1.3 per cent when compared with the previous year; at a time when emissions need to be reducing to achieve IPCC global temperature increase targets. Transdirect is aware of the environmental impact of the freight and logistics industry and have been concerned about their contribution to the problem for several years.
Transdirect Directors take personal responsibility
Transdirect directors, Trent Alexander and Nigel Beale decided to take personal responsibility for the environmental impact of Transdirect on behalf of Transdirect and its’ customers. Trent advised, “becoming Carbon Neutral certified is a huge step in the right direction for ensuring the protection of our environment.”
The choice to go carbon neutral was a natural step for Transdirect. Trent explained;
“As parents, Nigel and I feel personally responsible for creating change in an industry that has a huge impact on the environment. Making our delivery service 100% carbon neutral is one significant step towards creating leading work practices and an environmentally positive business model. We want all children for generations to live in and enjoy a healthy environment.”
An option for climate conscious consumers and businesses
Transdirect wanted to provide a service that would allow a proactive choice by consumers and businesses to support a carbon neutral service and the transition to a low carbon economy. Trent explained it this way:
“People are keenly aware of what’s happening in the environment right now. Often, they don’t know what to do or how to help. So, we are stepping in to provide a pro-active choice in a critical service industry, to say, work with a business who actively cares about the environment”.
Transdirect puts its’ money where its’ mouth is
Trent explained that offering a carbon neutral delivery service has a financial cost but that it is worth it to protect our environment and the future of our children. He said in relation to the carbon neutral delivery service;
“It’s a cost we are funding, but it’s worth it to ensure the future of this earth. Every action counts; and this is a monumental decision for our business. Every service our customers book will now be fully audited and carbon offset. We are ensuring that the carbon generated by our partners and suppliers is offset too; so every time you book with us you are supporting a carbon neutral shipping service.”
Transdirect Environmental Action
From September 1st, 2019 all Transdirect delivery services are certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Reduction Institute under the NoCO2 Program. Transdirect undertook the following process:
1. Commissioned an emissions assessment of their courier services from CRI to quantify the carbon footprint of their courier services. CRI’s assessment relied upon delivery-specific data from Transdirect, as well as published sources of relevant data and emissions factors.
2. Committed to offset the emissions associated with their carbon neutral courier services through the purchase of units in approved renewable energy projects under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), and
3. Committed to ongoing auditing of their courier service emissions by reporting carbon neutral courier services to CRI on a quarterly basis.
Transdirect carbon offsets its’ emissions through the China Wind Project which provides a renewable, clean energy source for power generation. Wind projects partially displace electricity currently generated from grid-connected conventional fossil fuel-based thermal power plants, thereby reducing overall emissions. Furthermore, by reducing harmful pollutants in the atmosphere, the China Wind Project also provides public health and local environmental benefits.
To sign up with Transdirect, please go to the following link:
www.transdirect.com.au
To contact the author, please use the following email address:
info@noco2.com.au
Jasper Coffee celebrates 10 years as a certified carbon neutral business!
Founded in 1989, Jasper Coffee is an Australian family owned speciality coffee roaster. They hold in stock Australia’s largest selection of Single Origin beans, Blends, Fairtrade, Organic & Specialty Coffees. Jasper Coffee roast and blend to perfection the highest quality Single Origin AA Grade Arabicas.
Jasper Coffee is dedicated to re-humanising the coffee supply chain and eliminating their environmental impact. They are strongly committed to coffee growers and the environment. This has manifested in their Certifications for Organic, Fairtrade and Carbon Neutral; along with their search for Shade Grown coffees, and extend to the cleaning products they use, the cars they drive, the compostable packaging they use; and the economic and social benefits Jasper Coffee direct to producers.
To achieve NoCO2 carbon neutral certification Jasper Coffee underwent a NoCO2 audit with Carbon Reduction Institute which gave them a complete, stepwise ’emissions inventory’ of their business. By reviewing and assessing their NoCO2 Report; Jasper Coffee was able to understand areas where their impact could be reduced, and the level of unavoidable emissions generated via their operations and products.
Jasper Coffee reduces its’ avoidable emissions, wherever possible, and offsets the unavoidable emissions of their operations and products by supporting cookstove projects in Peru. Under the NoCO2 Program, Jasper Coffee is a certified carbon neutral business and their products are also certified carbon neutral. Jasper coffee, and their products, have been certified under the NoCO2 Program since April 2009.
To enjoy a great tasting, satisfying cup of coffee, visit a Jasper Coffee café concept store. They are a great place to disembark and relax to tell stories over light meals and sweet treats… not to mention the great coffee. You can also order online. To start the journey of Exploration, Adventure and Obsession of Jasper’s World of Coffee, please go to the link below:
Author: Garth Mulholland, Environmental Programs Adviser, Carbon Reduction Institute, garthm@noco2.com.au.
Clean Up Australia is now carbon neutral according to announcement from the Carbon Reduction Institute
Clean Up Australia is excited to announce that it is now carbon neutral, after working closely with the Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI) to audit their operations and offset unavoidable emissions.
According to Ian Kiernan AO, founder and Chairman of Clean Up Australia, the environmental organisation is extremely proud to take this step to further their commitment in the fight against climate change.
“Achieving Carbon Neutral Certification to ensure that our office footprint is carbon neutral was an obvious step for us,” said Ian Kiernan.
“In our business activities, we all need to do more than just recycle paper, and going through the audit process with CRI to achieve our new certification shows that we are prepared to do more than just talk the talk.”
“It is our way of setting a good example for other businesses to follow and become more environmentally savvy; to become carbon neutral.”
As part of the process Clean Up Australia worked with the Carbon Reduction Institute to measure and audit its outputs and help reduce their carbon emissions. This valuable information allowed them to identify business operations which generated the most carbon emissions and investigate ways to reduce these emissions and subsequently reduce the overall environmental impact of the business.
Customers use the audit report to gain an understanding of where they have the greatest impact on the environment and what opportunities they have to reduce that impact, said Rob Cawthorne, Managing Director and founder of the Carbon Reduction Institute.
“We are pleased to announce that Clean Up Australia has achieved carbon neutral status after working with us to audit their business,” said Rob Cawthorne.
“The successful NoCO2 certification attests that greenhouse gas emissions produced from the operations and services of Clean Up Australia have been calculated by the Carbon Reduction Institute, and carbon offsets accredited under the Verified Carbon Standard have been purchased to offset 100% of these emissions.”
“This achievement is a wonderful example to the business community.”
For further information and interviews with Ian Kiernan AO, founder and chairman of Clean Up Australia, or Terrie-Ann Johnson, Managing Director and environmental activist, please contact Tracey Wigg on 0419 141 266.
Renewables 2017: 5 energy trends shaping a sustainable future
In a year in which President Trump seemingly did his best to roll back all the emission-reducing inroads of the Obama administration, the worldwide demand for low-cost, low-carbon energy continued to climb at unprecedented rates.
China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and still a major player in coal, is now on target to lead international investment in the sector, according to a recent report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Closer to home, a surge in solar PV installations – Australia set a new record in 2017 for the fastest time to reach a commissioned 1GW of solar in a calendar year – and widespread investment in wind farms has restored sector confidence.
Australia’s Clean Energy Council reveals that 43 renewable energy projects were under construction or due for completion by the end of 2017. The CEC believes these projects will deliver $8.8 billion in investment, more than 4,469 MW of new renewable energy capacity, and create more than 4,930 direct jobs.
In a watershed year for renewable energy around the globe, below are five other highlights to get excited about.
1. Australia now has the largest lithium-ion battery
When Elon Musk makes a promise, he delivers. In response to ongoing power shortages in South Australia, Musk tweeted Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes in March saying he could create a 100MWh battery storage farm within 100 days as a solution. If not, he’d foot the bill for his troubles.
The batteries were sent and installed well before the Australian heat waves hit – and well ahead of Musk’s self-imposed deadline.
Tesla’s Powerpacks are connected to a wind farm in Hornsdale, owned by French renewable energy company Neoen.
Thanks to Musk’s pledge, South Australia’s premier Jay Weatherill says it’s the first time the state has been able to reliably dispatch wind energy to the grid 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
2. China opens the world’s biggest floating solar farm
A Chinese city once famous for coal became the home to the world’s largest floating solar farm in 2017.
In a symbolic nod to where its energy commitments now lie, Chinese authorities also built it atop a former Huainan coal mine, which had become a lake after being flooded with groundwater.
The 40-megawatt power plant consists of 120,000 solar panels covering an area of more than 160 American football fields. The US$45-million facility could help power 15,000 homes.
Its tenure as a record-breaker, however, is to be short-lived. China, now the global leader in renewable energy investment, started building a 150-megawatt project in the same province in July. The entire facility is expected to be come online by May 2018.
3. SA green-lights the largest single-tower solar thermal power plant
The state once beset by energy woes, is fast becoming the renewable energy leader in Australia. Hot on the heels of the Tesla-built battery farm launching in South Australia, came news of the final stage of government approval for the building of the world’s largest solar thermal plant.
It works by using multiple heliostats – which are in essence turning mirrors – to focus solar energy onto a single central tower.
This tower uses molten salt technology to store the heat, which it can later use to create steam to turn a turbine and generate electricity. The Government contract with United States operator Solar Reserve plant will displace the equivalent of 200,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
The news is accompanied by new figures showing South Australia has successfully shut off its energy reliance on Victoria. Every week since July, South Australia has sold more power to Victoria than it’s brought in.
4. Offshore wind farms
Unencumbered by the usual noise and space limitations of their land-based equivalents, giant turbines rose up from the sea in record numbers in 2017. In May, Dutch officials opened what was billed as one of the world’s largest wind farms – a 150-turbine behemoth in the North Sea. Over the next 15 years, the windpark, which lies some 85 kilometres off the northern coast of The Netherlands, is tipped to meet the energy needs of about 1.5 million people.
With the benefits of more consistent and higher wind speeds at sea it has a peak generating capacity of 600 megawatts, and will help supply 785,000 Dutch households with renewable energy.
TenneT, the Dutch equivalent of the UK’s National Grid, also proposes to construct a man-made island on Dogger Bank in the middle of the North Sea to act as a distribution hub for wind farm electricity (see video above).
Now Australia is looking to jump on the bandwagon with an even bigger project. Melbourne-based Offshore Energy announced in December that it is partnering with Copenhagen Infrastructure Projects to build the country’s first offshore windfarm off the coast of Victoria.
When completed the $8 billion, 2GW, 250 turbine wind farm – dubbed Star of the South – would have the capacity to power 1.2 million homes, or 18 per cent of the state’s current electricity usage.
5. Harnessing Blockchain technology for cheaper power
A WA start-up capitalised on the surge in solar panel and battery installation in Australia with a new peer-to-peer way to buy and sell renewable energy. Power Ledger is a blockchain-based trading platform – bitcoin uses the same technology – that allows trading of renewable electricity without the need for a midd
leman.
In October, the energy tech start-up made Australian history with the nation’s first initial coin offering through the Ethereum cryptocurrency network after raising $18.9 million in capital in the lead up to its launch, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Since the ICO, the value of Power Ledger’s 351 million POWRs – cryptocurrency tokens – in circulation increased to $US225 million, according to coinmarketcap.com.
The Perth-based company also recently shared a $2.25 million federal grant with CSIRO, Landcorp and Curtin and Murdoch universities to demonstrate a sustainable energy and water housing project in Fremantle, and is using its cash to employ more software developers and build its staff to about 25. Other trial partners include India’s Tech Mahindra, Origin Energy and New Zealand utility Vector.